Former liquor store operator sentenced for heroin distribution

The former co-owner of a downtown New London liquor store was sentenced to 37 months in prison today in U.S. District Court for distributing heroin.

Lester Fantauzzi, 47, of East Lyme, was among more than 100 people arrested in April 2013 following a joint investigation by local, state and federal authorities into the trafficking of heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico into southeastern Connecticut. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 6, 2014, to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven also sentenced him to three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Fantauzzi regularly purchased raw heroin from Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado and distributed it to his own customer base from the Globe Spirit Shop, a liquor store he co-owned and operated on Green Street in New London.

Capellan Maldonado has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

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